Globe Gallivanting- motorbiking across the world

We rode past the nice-looking campsite and onwards- 150km in the wrong direction based on a border crossing on our map that didn’t actually exist. The towns got smaller and smaller. We stopped and asked a burly army officer how to cross into Bulgaria. He looked very surprised when he eventually understood, and sent us back exactly the way we came. We stopped at a disco garage for strong coffee to buzz us back towards the Bulgarian border. Bulgaria awaits. The border had a brilliant soviet-style ‘Republic of Bulgaria’ sign, and we passed the now-defunct ‘Disinfection Bay’ without anyone trying to hose us down with anything. Everyone was whizzing through without showing anything, so we got stopped and asked for our passports. some communist-looking flats in the rain. The crossing was great though, and the bit of Bulgaria we arrived into was excellent, with very shabby little villages, and Lada cars everywhere, and dodgy-looking huddles of young men at roadside bars. We changed some mon...

We spent 4 days in Sorrento. The campsite was the best I have ever seen, with an amazing psychedelic tiled bathroom with green and blue paisley tiles, little bright green lizards lurking on rocks, orange and lemon trees and 360 degree panoramic views across the bay. I lay about like a holiday-maker and made daisy chains and ate and drank, and did Absolutely Nothing Else. We drank wine and ate pizza and wandered around the little town watching couples eat icecream (a national sport). We wandered in to a café for an awkward encounter with an espresso and a barman, and mistimed lunchtime siesta so didn’t get fed that afternoon- every single place shuts down, even the beggars know to find a place for a snooze. It was all far too peaceful and relaxed so we headed out for a ride to Amalfi and walked up and down ancient steps and photographed old tourists by the water, and visited cafes just so we could use the toilets and run away again. Sat on the steps eating 1 Euro slices of pizza and ...

We were zooming through Italy because it was all so expensive, and we couldn’t even afford the campsites without breaking our budget… The next day saw us head towards Rome, via a half-hour stop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, where we managed to illegally zoom straight up to the Tower and get a photo of the bike in front of it, before being hurried away by an irate stall keeper (admittedly we were parked in front of his stall, but he only sold tat anyway!) Pisa was full of tourists wanting the one shot and jostling for space to get it. There were touts who didn’t seem to try very hard, and restaurants with over-priced grub, and rotund Americans wearing daft T-shirts, but we just waltzed in there, wandered round and left. The roads were stunning off the main roads, and we kept off them from then on, riding down perfect tarmac with great motorbike bends, and reaching Rome and the campsite by 4pm- record time!!! We wandered the campsite area in the evening before realizing we probably...

We left towards Monaco, not having quite had our fill of uber-rich filth, and zoomed through, stopping for long enough to photograph the bike and Adam next to some millionaire toy-boat, and riding on a short section of the Grand Prix track, where they were setting up all the start flags etc. I got humiliated by a very swanked up postcard seller in a bow-tie and breeches. It was a very full-up place, with hotels with swimming pools on the roof, and garage attendants who sneered at you. The Barclays branches looked like 5-star restaurants, and Lambourghinis were as common as Fords would be anywhere else. It was small though, a little bay of mentalness, and we passed through and into Italy without noticing. We didn’t realize we’d crossed over until the service station man was speaking a funny type of French we couldn’t understand. There were espresso bars in the garages, and Estonians in tiny cramped vans with their babies swaddled up so much they couldn’t see out. The motorw...